Consumers are fickle; their behaviours are constantly changing. They chase one trend, drive others and often ignore many that the ‘consumer industry’, be it fashion, food, media or tech, tries to encourage them to jump on board with.

This fast-paced digital world is often a phenomenon that brands cannot keep up with, making it difficult for marketers to engage with their customers.

Our recent international study revealed gloomy prospects for the communication channels brands use to communicate with their customers, or potential customers.

Mailjet commissioned research to understand the views of consumers, versus the opinions of communication experts on the future of email and brand communications globally.

The report looked at the innovations people want to see over the next five years and the findings tell a very interesting story for the future of brand communication channels.

Think twice before chasing tech trends

Since 2000, the way we communicate has completely pivoted; topping up five or ten pounds credit, BlackBerry messenger (BBM, as it was affectionately known), Bebo and Myspace have all come and gone.

It’s unsurprising then that consumers believe the communication channels we use today won’t be the ones we’re using in ten years’ time. Only 11% of respondents were certain that Pinterest and LinkedIn would still exist in a decade and 14% think Snapchat will still be used.

The findings suggest these newer platforms are passing trends, rather than long-term means of communication.

However, when asked about email, people think we will still be using it in a decade. Matthew Potter, Regional VP EMEA of Movable Ink agreed, "email has seen a natural evolution, from message blasting to behaviour driven, customer-centric marketing…

Marketers need to spend more time thinking about 1-2-1 communication. Companies should be investing in technologies that give them more time to focus on better marketing.”

Relevance is key

Consumers now expect brands to communicate with them in a tailored way, with information that is relevant for their wants and needs. A quarter of consumers note that the biggest pain point when communicating with brands is irrelevant messages.

A ‘spray and pray’ approach will not result in an integrated customer experience, and personalisation is not something modern customers are daunted by anymore. They actually deem it engaging and effective rather than intrusive.

This suggests that marketers should be sticking to traditional communications such as email. Dheeraj Sareen, Director of Partnerships at Boomtrain for example believes that offering, highly personalised, and formatted messages that hold longevity in the inbox, paired with push notifications is the communication channel that brands will find most powerful in the future.

Facing regulations

Another important topic to mention is GDPR. As we are now just a year away, brands will need to become more considered in their means of communicating with new or current customers. The regulation is going to enforce ‘double opt-in’, meaning customers have to be completely sure they want to receive communications from brands.

Content will be king; when customers are willing to opt-in to receive a brand’s messages, these will need to be good enough to maintain their engagement. Chris Pook, CRM director of Lyst suggests, “email, for example, has responded to the way consumers use websites by building more interactive content with microsite style layouts, making emails shop-able.

As a steadily evolving format which consumers are acclimatised to, there’s a lot the giants of the social realm can learn from email as it continues to innovate and mature.”

It is a given that marketers must stay up to speed with consumer behaviour, the channels they populate and the social trends they follow. While this often means experimenting with new strategies and techniques, new channels must simultaneously be treated with caution.

Trends come and go so marketers must stay focused on creating communications that make the customer experience better. By offering convenient experiences through their marketing, they will be able to drive the path to purchase and ensure long term customer engagement.

Josie Scotchmer is marketing manager at Mailjet.